Turkey hosts nearly 2.8 mln Syrian refugees

Japanese town back from brink
post-Fukushima​​
Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai of Minamisoma in northeastern
Japan had briefly become one of the most famous faces of the
deadly “triple disaster” of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear
power meltdown that pulverized his seaside town five years
ago Friday.He had published an 11-minute video on YouTube
pleading for his beleaguered town, which had literally been
brought close to the point of extinction by the tsunami and
the town’s proximity to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power
plant.“I beg you, as mayor of Minamisoma, to help us,” he had
implored. >>ASIA
Israeli army raids Palestinian
TV channel
The Israeli army raided the headquarters of Palestine
Today TV in the occupied West Bank on Friday. Israel’s
military said in a statement that its leadership decided
to permanently close the offices of Palestine Today in
Ramallah. Jihad Barakat, a reporter at the channel, told
Anadolu Agency that at least 50 Israeli soldiers stormed
the station’s offices at dawn. “They confiscated broadcasting equipment and arrested two Palestinian journalists,” Barakat said.him to an unknown location.”
Fenerbahce beats Sporting
Braga in Istanbul
WEATHER / ANKARA
Turkey’s Fenerbahce beat Portugal’s Sporting Braga
1-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round
of 16 in Istanbul on Thursday evening. The goal in the
match played at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium was by Turkish midfielder Mehmet Topal in the 82nd minute. The
second leg will be played in Braga, Portugal a week later, on March 17. In the other knockout stage matches,
Shakhtar Donetsk beat Anderlecht 3-1, Basel draw with
Sevilla 0-0, and Borussia Dortmund beat Tottenham
3-0. >> SPORTS
>>WORLD
Saturday
CLOUDY SUNNY
16°C
Sunday
CLOUDY SUNNY
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Saturday March 12, 2016
US disputes Obama
‘quotes’ on Erdogan
Syrian opposition
to attend Monday’s
Geneva peace talks
Officials distance administration from claims in US
magazine later misrepresented in Turkish media
U.S. officials have stressed the value of America’s relationship with
Turkey in the wake of a news
magazine article that was misinterpreted by some sections of the
Turkish media. A profile of U.S.
President Barack Obama in The
Atlantic magazine contained the
allegation that Obama was critical of Turkey’s President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan. Despite this appearing as a claim by the article’s
author Jeffrey Goldberg, some
newspapers in Turkey presented
the phrase as a direct quote from
Obama. Mark Stroh, a spokesman
for the White House’s National Security Council, said in his
statement to Turkish press that
Erdogan remained a “key partner” for the U.S. “The president
especially values the perspective
of our Turkish partners given
the country’s important role as a
bridge between Europe, the Middle East, and the Muslim world,”
he said. He emphasized that the
two presidents speak often, particularly over Syria and the fight
against Daesh. “When it comes
to Syria, the president has expressed appreciation to President
Erdogan for Turkey’s generosity
in hosting more than 2.5 million
refugees and we will continue to
be partners in confronting shared
challenges,” Stroh said. Following
publication, State Department
spokesman Mark Toner also reiterated the links between Turkey
and the U.S. “I’m not going to
speak to what the president said
or didn’t say in that other than to
say that we have been very clear
that we will continue to work
closely with Turkey on how to
address the situation in Syria,” he
told journalists at a news briefing
on Thursday. He added: “So I’m
not going to speak to the specific
quotes other than to say that we
remain committed to working
closely with Turkey on this issue
and on any other issue. Turkey is
a close partner, NATO ally, it’s a
democracy. >>MORE DETAILS
Turkey hosts nearly 2.8
mln Syrian refugees
Russia is tr ying to reach out to
former Soviet allies in South
and Central A merica in an
attempt to compete against
Syrian opposition group the
High Negotiations Committee on Friday announced
it would attend peace talks
to be held under UN supervision next Monday, March
14. According to a written
statement from the committee, the opposition group
will attend the talks “without
preconditions”. “The international community should
be clear and resolved on ending the tragedy in Syria. The
Syrian people are still being
exposed to bombardment,
sieges, arbitrary arrests, and
forced migration,” the statement read. The group said
ing Syrians. Syria has been
locked in a vicious civil war
since early 2011 when the
al-Assad regime cracked
down on pro-democracy
protests with unexpected
ferocity. Since then, more
than 250,000 people have
been killed and more than 10
million displaced, according
to the UN. >>MORE DETAILS
Turkey stops
Fitch expects more
at least 50,000 near-term growth
refugees in 2016 momentum for
Turkey
At least 50,000 refugees trying to
reach Europe illegally have been
found in sea and ground operations
by the Turkish authorities in 2016.
Turkey has also said that 183 people have died trying to cross the
Aegean Sea since Jan. 1 this year.
According to Anadolu Agency
figures, the Turkish Coast Guard
saved just over 15,000 refugees
so far in 2016 and Turkish gendarmes and police discovered almost 35,000 in ground operations
this year. >>MORE DETAILS
Year-end growth estimations for
Turkey have been upgraded to
3.5 percent from three percent in
December last year, due to a better-than-expected economic performance, according to a chief
economist at Fitch ratings agency.
Turkey received the largest upgrade to growth outlook among
emerging economies such as India,
China and South Africa, while all
other received cuts to their 2016
growth forecasts. >>MORE DETAILS
that during the talks the principles agreed to in the Geneva 1 talks nearly four years
ago would be stressed, adding that the partial and temporary cessation of hostilities
is not fully being implemented. The Geneva 1 Conference on Syria, held in June
2012, stressed the formation
of a transitional government,
maintaining a cease-fire, the
release of prisoners, and delivering humanitarian aid to
besieged areas. >>MORE DETAILS
Turkey’s health minister has said the terrorist
PKK group destroyed 44
healthcare centers since security operations began in
the country’s southeast last
year. Speaking in Ankara
on Thursday, Mehmet Muezzinoglu stated that “some
centers have already been
procured, and renovation
has started in centers that
are safe” adding that all
efforts are being made for
civilians to have access to
health services. “Hopefully every form of terror will
U. S. Southern Command said
Thursday. Noting that U. S.
global competitors are tr ying
to inf luence countries in the
Western
hemisphere,
Adm.
Kurt W. Tidd said “the most
concerning of them is Russia”.
“As part of their global strateg y, Russia attempts to discredit our reliabilit y as a trustworthy partner here in our own
region,” Tidd said. He said
Russia portrays the U. S. as
“unreliable” and “withdrawing
from this pivotal region”, adding that Moscow’s resurgence
competitive”.>>MORE DETAILS
end soon across the country, in every street, and
our country will be clear
of terrorists,” he said. A
number of schools in Van
and Mardin provinces have
also been destroyed by
PKK terrorists as well as
Fetih Pasa Mosque, a historical landmark in Diyarbakir in December 2015.
The PKK -- considered
a terrorist organization
also by the U.S. and the
EU -- resumed its 30-year
armed campaign against
the Turkish state in late
July 2015. Since then, 290
members of the security
forces have been martyred
while 1,250 terrorists have
been killed in Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Mardin and Mus
provinces. >>MORE DETAILS
‘Putin wants to
divide Europe,’
says Kasparov
Russian opposition politician and former world chess
champion Garry Kasparov
said Friday that Russian
President Vladimir Putin
is aiming to divide Europe
and has made no secret of
his ambition. Speaking at
the Free Russia Forum in
Lithuania’s capital Vilnius,
Kasparov sharply criticized
Putin’s policies. Blaming
Russian attacks in Syria for
exacerbating
conditions
and triggering people to
flee to Europe, Kasparov
said: “Putin’s prime target
is to divide Europe, and
he does not even hide his
U. S. inf luence, the head of
in the region is “extremely
PKK destroyed
44 health centers
Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan tweeted the number of
Syrian refugees in Turkey on Thursday
The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has reached
2,733,784, of which 282,815
refugees reside in 26 temporary refugee centers, said
Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan on Thursday.
Akdogan said on his Twitter account that Turkey had
shown its moral and conscientious stance by embrac-
Russian return to
South America
‘concerning’
wish [for it].” Kasparov
said that Russia intentionally wants to worsen the
situation in Syria, so it also
wants to weaken NATO.
“This is a low possibility that Russia starts a war
against NATO members.
Because Moscow knows
that this attempt would
face a military response
from NATO,” he stressed.
Kasparov also slammed
Putin’s rule in Russia as a
“fascist dictatorship”, adding: “You cannot criticize
Putin in Russia right now,
it’s impossible”.
>>MORE DETAILS
Executions
in Iran hit
20-year high
Iran
executed
nearly
1,000
people last year, according to a
UN report released Thursday,
the highest level in two decades. The executions took place
as Tehran was negotiating with
world powers on a nuclear inspection deal that would see
Iran begin to rehabilitate itself
in the international community. The report from Ahmed
Shaheed, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in
Iran, said at least 966 were executed in 2015. In the previous
year, 753 people were executed.
>>MORE DETAILS
Turkish lira rises
to 3-month high
against US dollar
Boosted by ECB’s further monetary easing measures, lira rises
against the dollar along with
other emerging arket currencies. After the European Central
Bank took additional monetary
measures, the Turkish lira today
strengthened to a three-anda-half-month high against the
U.S. dollar. Yesterday European
Central Bank President Mario
Draghi announced new monetary easing measures, which saw
the monthly bond purchasing
program raise to €80 billion per
month from €60 billion, and
considerable cuts in its interest rates. Following the ECB’s
decision, the lira strengthened
to 2.8734 levels against the US
dollar, the lowest level since December 3, in line with appreciation seen in almost all emerging
market economies
>>MORE DETAILS